WHO Makes ‘Strong Recommendation’ Against Blood Plasma Treatment For COVID-19

Paris: The World Health Organization (WHO) said that COVID treatments with the plasma taken from the blood of cured coronavirus patients should not be given to people with mild or moderate illness.

Convalescent plasma showed some early results when given intravenously to people sick with COVID-19.

“Current evidence shows that it does not improve survival nor reduce the need for mechanical ventilation, and it is costly and time-consuming to administer,” the WHO said in its advice published in the British Medical Journal.

The world medical authority made a “strong recommendation” against blood plasma use in people who do not have serious COVID-19 symptoms. It also said that even for severe and critical patients, the treatment should only be given as part of a clinical trial.

Convalescent plasma is the blood’s liquid part from a patient already recovered from COVID that contains antibodies produced by the body after being infected.

According to WHO, its latest recommendations were on the basis of evidence from 16 trials involving 16,236 patients with non-severe, severe, and critical COVID-19 infection, the agency reported.

ALSO READ: Nine Students Of Residential School Test Covid Positive In Odisha’s Jajpur